Winners Announced at
Scotland’s Asian Restaurant Awards 2025
Venue: Crowne Plaza, Congress Road Glasgow, G3 8QT
The 9th Asian Restaurant Awards organised by the Asian Catering Federation returned to Glasgow on Monday 13th October, to recognise the outstanding culinary excellence, and sumptuous creativity from 24 Asian Restaurants and Take Aways across Scotland.
The awards, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow were attended by over 400 guests and hosted by Dr Zubir Ahmed, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, and UK Minister for Health and Social Care. It was organised by the Asian Catering Foundation. The awards were presented by BBC News Presenter Samantha Simmonds and the 2025 runner up in the BBC’s hit series, The Apprentice, Anisa Khan.
Joining them to present the awards on stage were Councillor Thomas Kerr, Glasgow City Council, Councillor Paul Edlin from East Renfrewshire Council, and Cllr Richard Brooks from Aberdeen City Council.
Asian restaurants across Scotland were shortlisted earlier in the year through a series of public votes, and then narrowed down to just 24 winners. Standout winners included, Shimla Dining who won Curry Champion of the Year, and Muhammad Sultan who was awarded special recognition for his charity work with the homeless in Glasgow, and his international aid work year-round.
Full list of winners:
CURRY CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
Shimla Dining, Coaltown of Wemyss – WINNER
ASIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Spice Tandoori, Elgin – WINNER – NORTH OF SCOTLAND
Bayleaf, Livingston – WINNER – WEST LOTHIAN
Masala Twist, Glasgow – WINNER – GLASGOW
Obsession of India, Glasgow – WINNER, WEST CENTRAL
Ignite, Edinburgh – WINNER, REGIONAL
Shezan Indian Restaurant, Edinburgh – WINNER, EDINBURGH
The Bengal Spice, Keith – HIGHLY COMMENDED, MORAY
Light of Bengal, Aberdeen – WINNER, ABERDEENSHIRE
NEPALESE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Shimla Dining Inn, Grampian Hotel, Perth – WINNER
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Zaika Taal, Glasgow – WINNER, WEST CENTRAL
CASUAL DINING RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Rickshaw & Co, Glasgow – WINNER
Raja Rani, Glasgow – HIGHLY COMMENDED, West Central
FINE DINING RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Kinara, Glasgow – WINNER
SOUTH ASIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Madras Café, Glasgow – WINNER – West Central
JAPANESE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Katsu, Glasgow – WINNER, West Central
MALAYSIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Nanyang, Edinburgh – WINNER
HERITAGE CUISINE OF THE YEAR
Macau Kitchen, Edinburgh – WINNER
(Macanese Cuisine & Luso-Asian Cuisine)
INDIAN AND NEPALESE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Mount View Restaurant, Lauriston – WINNER, North Scotland
New Shimla, Leslie – WINNER, Glenrothes
FAMILY FRIENDLY RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Bayleaf, Bathgate – WINNER- West Lothian
ASIAN BUFFET RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Namaste Shimla Palace, Cowdenbeath – WINNER, FIFE
ASIAN TAKEAWAY OF THE YEAR
Bayleaf Express, Edinburgh – WINNER, Edinburgh
Eastern Spice, Edinburgh, HIGHLY COMMENDED, South East Scotland
COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARD
Muhammad Sultan, (Charcoal’s Restaurant) Glasgow – WINNER
On announcing the winners, Asian Catering Federation Chairman Yawar Khan said: “The Asian Restaurant Awards in Glasgow are a key event for our industry. Not only do they recognise the excellence of Asian and Oriental restaurants in Scotland, but they also celebrate the significant contribution our industry makes to the economy thanks to the hard work of all the businesses involved.
The Asian food industry continues to thrive in 2025, despite the many challenges it currently has to face, in particular the fees charged by online delivery platforms, rising food costs, high energy bills, and the damaging new immigration rules in the UK. Should the new immigration rules go ahead, I believe the high standard of authentic Asian cuisine produced in the UK, will be hit hard, as these rules will make hiring chefs from overseas almost impossible.
The awards are organised by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF) which represents the nation’s 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants in the UK and employs over 100,000 people, contributing more than £7.5bn to the UK economy.
Media Contact: Emma Henderson, Public Image PR
E: emma@publicimagepr.co.uk 07977 134 614
Yawar Khan, Chairman, Asian Catering Federation
E: infos@acfederation.org; www.asianrestaurantawards.org
Notes to Editors:
The Asian Catering Federation’s awards are supported by Booker Wholesale, and sponsored by Work Permit Cloud Ltd., Cobra Beer, Pay Tap, Mohammad Shah & Co LLP and Kingfisher Beer.
Asian Catering Federation
The Asian Catering Federation (ACF), which represents the nation’s 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants organises the only awards open to all Asian cuisines: Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
The ACF strives to deliver real returns for its members within the Asian catering industry, helping them to find financial success, achieve excellence, and build customer loyalty. It aims to unite Asian caterers on one platform; campaign for greater recognition; achieve members’ common goals through partnerships with government and other organisations; provide help with training, and create rewarding careers in Asian catering.
The sector employs over 100,000 people and contributes more than £7.5 billion to the UK economy.
Samantha Simmonds is a journalist and broadcaster with more than 20 years at the forefront of the news. She is currently presenting on the BBC, covering all the main programmes for BBC World News including the agenda setting “The Briefing” news and business programme on BBC 1 and Business Live on the BBC News Channel.
Anisa Khan founded Bombay Pizza in South London five years ago aged just 22. Her stand-out leadership skills and commercial mindset, earned her a place in the final of this year’s BBC flagship show The Apprentice and a five-star review by Mike Soutar one of Lord Sugar’s trusted aides.
www.bombaypizza.co.uk
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